Sunday, February 19, 2006

The Would Be Vengeance Of Dick Morris

Add Dick Moris to the ever growing list of those who have found fesh ammunition to use against the Administration due to the recent misadventures of Deadeye Dick Cheney, only in this case most might tend to wonder exactly why Morris, generally considered a supporter of the Administration, would jump on this bandwagon, going so far to insist on a ecent episode of Fox News Channels Hannity And Colmes-to the shagrin of conservative host and radio pundit Shawn hannity-that the Vice-President was probably drunk. He intimated that this was usually the case in situations like this, and that it was the most logical explanation as to why Cheney delayed informing the press, and waitied so long to issue a public statement after it got out.

Morris was adamant too in his judgement of Cheney's character, nor was it the first time he has criticized Cheney. But in this case, Hannity, growing ever more frustrated, called Morris's statements irresponsible.

But Morris knows what he is doing. Well, Morris thinks he knows what he is doing, and so, I think, do I. This is just another push in his drive to publicly stage manage what he is hopeful will be the political coming of age of Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, who Morris sees as the eventual Republican nominee for the 2008 presidential election.

He has even written a book which reads more like a prophecy, entitled, I think "Hillary Clinton versus Condoleeza Rice-The Next Great Presidential Race". In this book he envisions Rice the eventual winner in what would be the most fiercely competitive race in modern history, with record numbers at the polls, and Rice winning by keeping a lock on the traditional Republican base and combining this by winning the independant voters, in addition to drawing appreciable amounts of blacks and women, and other minority groups as well.

And, he might well be right in his assessment of the race, if it were to ever come about. The only problem with it would seem to be, it probably is not going to happen. For one thing, Rice has categorically denied any intentions to seek the nomination, and has done so repeatedly. In addition, recent polling indicates the heavy favorite, for now, to win the nomination is Rudy Giulliani, coming in at about ten points ahead of his next closest competitor, Arizona Senator John McCain.

Therefore, it seems that Morris has taken steps to push along his prediction and help it becme a reality. There was at one point a web-site that promoted Rice for President at the head of the Republican Party ticket, and this was doubtless either instigated by Morris, or inspired and encouraged by him. And, as I said before, this is not the first time Cheney, in addition to other Republican Party officials, including Bush himself, has drawn criticism from the former Clinton staffer who fell out with his boss, the former President. He now now little good to say about Clinton, and even less kind words to say about Hillary, whom he promotes as a Far Left ideoloque, and a demagoque trying transparantly to move toward the center. He sees her as a real danger to the country.

Morris may feel he has reason to be bitter. He was at least partially responsible for Clintons resurrection in the polls following the 1994 off- year election debaucle which saw dissatisfactionwith his Administration enable the Republican party to take control of both houses of Congress for the first time in forty years. Thanks in part to Morris, Clinton came back and won re-election to the presidency in 1996, handily defeating Republican nominee Robert Dole, depsite being kept to just under fifty percent of the total vote due to the presence on the ballot of Ross Perot.

Sometime following this, Morris was discovered to have used the White House phone to engage in some kind of kinky phone sex shenanigans, I forget exactly what it was all about, but it seems to have been one of those 900 number type of deals, and there was some mention of toe sucking. All this, of course, got him the boot, and he evidently blames Hillary, whose boot he had doubtless felt disposed to lick from time to time. Yet, though he must certainly have undertood the embarrassment this prediament put the Administration in, he was understandably, perhaps, irate at what he doubltess perceives as the then First lady's ingratitude, as well as Clintons. He was doubltess all the more enraged when Hillary coldly stood by her man in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal. And, he must have felt some kind of vengeful glee at their predicament.

Still, Morris remained out of the limelight, for the most part, though in recent years saw fit to resurface, writing such boooks as "Off With Their Heads", and then "Rewriting History",which was an answer to Hillary's "Living History". He briefly mused about writing an answer to Bill Clintons best selling memoir, tentatively to be titled, "Because He Could", a chiding response to Clinton's evasively throwaway explanation as to why he engaged in the sexual romp and roll with Ms. Lewisnsky.

Instead, he ultimately produced the latest tomb about the foretold '08 race between Hillary and Condi. And in order to promote this visionary dream, it seems that no one is safe, particularly the Vice-President, who now must ironically himself feel somewhat the hunted quarry.

After all, in the wake of the recent polls and Condi's obstinate refusal to seek the nomination, and even to insist on an appearrance on Tim Russerts Meet The Press that not only will she not seek the nomination she will not accept it were it offerred, there doesn't seem to be much wiggle room for Morris. So an uncomfortable situation such as this is made to order. Were Cheney to be pushed aside, then obviously Bush would have to nominate a replacement. McCain would be unlikely, and Giulliani would seem to be an imposibility. Bush is certainly enough of a political animal to understand that whoever replaced Cheney as Vice-President would have the upper hand in fund raising and campaigning were that person to actively seek the Party's nomination.

It stands to reason that Bush would be favorably disposed towards Rice, and one wonders just how many times the president has been presented with this scenario and has seriously considered it. The Senate Democrats, of course, would be hard pressed to fight such an appointment, and would seem to have no grounds for a filibuster, though there are some who would certainly try. One cannot help but entertain the thoughts of how Hillary would react. It would certainly put her in an uncomfortable position, and her handling of it might well speak volumes about her personally and politically. But what could she do, besides visibly fume?

Finally, what is in all this for Morris? Besides revenge, it would be the capstone of his career, obviously. But were it to come about, does he envision, in addition to the degree of self-satisfaction this would net him, some kind of political appointment? A staff position, perhaps, or even a minor political appointment. It would be hard to justify such political patronage in Morris's case, and he probably knows that. Yet, you have to wonder just what goes on in the back of the mind of Dick Morris when he sees such news footage of Rice walking in pointy toed black stilletto boots.